I left work, exhausted and frustrated. Pulling in our driveway, I turned off the ignition. It had been two weeks since the Jeff fiasco. Opening the car door, yanking out my, purse, then slamming the car door, I entered the house. Mom was at work. The clock on the stove read six fifty-three. I had another meeting with the shrink tomorrow, and I planned on skipping it. Therapy sucks. Mom says I have to stop balling up me emotions, but she really just doesn't want to deal with me. The shrink even told me that my reactions weren't crazy, I just didn't scare easy. I hardly even get how my reactions to my attack were abnormal. Who freaking cares? With a long huff of annoyance, I walked into my room, going straight to my bathroom. I ditched my work clothes and showered, then pulled on a white bathrobe. My hair was heavy when it was wet and tangled from scrubbing my head, so I ran a brush through it. I opened my bathroom door, and the first thing you noticed was my bedroom door was shut. Then the figure sitting on my bed came into view. I was Jeff. He stared at me, looking tired and depressed, despite his wide eyes. My stomach twisted into knots, my heart pounded, though I felt little fear.

"Uhm......."

"Hello Juliet" he said in a low voice.

"W-Why are you here?" I asked, finding my voice. The question came out quite and nervous.

"I don't know honestly" he said, dropping his gaze to the floor.

"C-Can you please g-go?" I whispered.

"I won't hurt you" Jeff said earnestly. He laid down on my bed, stretching out. The guy smelled bad, even from across the room.

"If you want to lay down on my bed, you need to get cleaned up" I said, wrinkling my nose. He chuckled, sitting up.

"Will you call the police again?"

"No" I said, surprising myself. He wasn't being hostile. The images of dozens of news stories and pictures entered my mind. Did he really kill all the people?

"Are you lying?"

"No."

"Hmm. Well, I have nothing to change into" he said slowly.

"You could wear my Dad's old clothes" I blurted. He raised an eyebrow, then laughed.

"I'll stick to my own garb" Jeff said calmly.

"Ok, well, at least sit on the floor." He obeyed, sitting cross-legged on the floor, staring at me. "Er........" I muttered, sitting cross-legged, just like him, in front of him.

"Why do you paint such morbid paintings?" He asked curiously, suddenly holding the painting of him and I.

"I don't know" I said, matching his tone. He laughed, and held the painting in his lap, tracing his face with his index finger.

"You really don't know?" He questioned.

"I guess I just like making my own tiny worlds. The paintings all have a tiny story, and I bring that story to life. I guess." My face grew warm from admitting something so personal. Jeff watched me, almost surprised. Why am I even sitting here? But I knew why I was sitting here, I felt....safe.

"How did you lose it?" he asked randomly.

"Lose what?" I was confused.

"Innocence" he said calmly.

"Errrr..........I saw my father get murdered by someone" I said, shutting my eyes tightly. Unwanted memories crashed into my waking mind, things I had repressed for the past six months. Curling up in a ball, I rocked back and forth, hugging my knees. My head pounded, I moaned as the unwanted memories flooded into my head.

The man slammed into the back door, a crack ringing out. Dad looked at me, fear written all over him. "Go, hide under my bed!" he hissed. I ran up the stairs, nearly tripping. This couldn't be happening. My over active imagination screamed, "zombies!" But common sense and zombie films told me otherwise. I crawled under my parents bed, holding my hand over my mouth. A bang and a crash came from down stairs. Furious telling followed. I scooted as far away from the edges of the bed, barely breathing. Footsteps and a thump came up the stairs. I heard my father's feeble please. A fire, dressed in all black, dragged my father's body in the room. I held both of my hands over my mouth to keep from screaming.

".....I can......pay.....you" my father moaned.

"Your money does not interest me. You owe me your life, nothing else will suffice" an evil voice exclaimed. "But......she will be a bonus. A gloved hand shot under the bed, viciously yanking me from under the bed. I swore. Dad had blood dripping from his head, a large gash on his forehead. The man in black shoved me to the floor, laughing. He held a bat wrapped in barb wire. I crawled to my father, pulling on his hand.

"Get up Dad!" I yelled.

The man laughed again, kicking dad in the ribs hard. Dad yelled a string of swear words, attempting to drag himself away from the man. But the man was fast, he swung the hellish bat and brought it down swiftly onto dad's side. I watched dad twitch and yell. The barn wore had sliced through his t-shit and torn into his side. The man pulled the bat away, Dad moaned. Blood pooled from the wound. Blood and bits of flesh clung to the bat as the man raised it over his head. I grabbed the man's leg, trying to pull him to the ground. He laughed, kicking my in the ribs. Pain exploded in my chest, I hit the wall. I clutched my stomach and watched the man bring the bat down on my father's head. Dad screamed for a moment before coming silent. Blood, bone, and brains leaked from his head. I stared, transfixed. The man brought the bat down three more times, before laughing and leaving the room. I chased him down the stairs, grabbing a vase and throwing it. The vase bounced off the man's back, then smashed as it hit the floor.

I blinked, and found myself staring into Jeff's face. He stared at me, brows furrowed, he looked worried. I sat up too quickly, and we banged foreheads. Our eyes locked, my stomach twisted into tight knots, my face grew warm and red. Awkward. I rubbed my head and realized Jeff had moved me to my bed. He rubbed his forehead, and watched me. We both fell silent.

"Why are you here?" I finally asked, sounding a bit annoyed.

"Because I can" he retorted.

"But you can't."

"Can."

"Can't!"

"Can!"

"Can't!"

"Then I'll go!" he snapped, jumping out my open window. My mother pulled in shortly after he left. I sat on my bed, still in my bathrobe, trying to understand Jeff. I decided to go to bed early for once, falling into a dreamless sleep when my head hit the pillow.

As I walked from work to my car, A tall man walked up to me. He had sandy blonde hair, a tan, aqua blue eyes, a normal smile, and nice clothes. He held out my purse. I took the purse from him, completely caught off guard, and stuttered a pathetic excuse for a thank you.

"Hey, it's no problem."

"Really, thanks" I said softly.

"What's your name.........er...it must be Juliet." his eyes were on my name tag, I giggled at him, feeling normal for once.

"Yup. What's your name?" I asked brightly, feeling more confident.

"Axel." He said warmly. He held out a hand, I took it and shook his hand. "Would it be too weird if I asked for your phone number?" Axel asked.

"No" I said with a smile. I took a pen a notepad from my car and wrote down my name and phone number. Ripping out the piece of paper, I handed it to Axel, who smiled.

"Well, bye Julie" Axel said, waving. He walked to a silver car. I got in my own car, as I adjusted the review mirror, I saw Jeff's face in the back of the car. I half screamed before his pale hand shot out, covering my mouth.

"Shhhhhhh" he hissed softly, smiling with mischief.

"Screw you!" I snapped.

"Bitch" he retorted.

"Jerk."

"Coward."

"Freak."

"Stupid girl!" He growled. Leaning forward from the backseat, he rested his chin on my shoulder, and brushed my hair from my ear. His hands were surprisingly warm as they brushed my face. "I could kill you" he whispered into my ear, "but I won't." Her breath was warm on my ear and the closeness of his face made me squirm. I pulled out of the parking lot, feeling really uncomfortable with Jeff's chin on my shoulder. He chuckled softly. I sighed as I drove.

"What do you want?" I asked irritably.

"To do what I want when I want" he said, calmer now.

"So what your saying is, you like stalking me? What's next? Are going to climb out of the sink while I'm in the shower?" I snapped. Jeff looked at me quizzically for two seconds, then busted up laughing. His laughter was deep and throaty, ringing in my ears. I kept my eyes on the road. Jeff sat back in his seat, clutching his stomach laughing. Suddenly, he stopped laughing, and mumbled, "maybe" under his breath. Then I started laughing. He really is a stalker. I saw his eyes staring at me from the review mirror, puzzled and annoyed.

"Stupid girl" he snarled.

"Idiot."

"Bitch."

"Do you want to do something?" I asked.

"What?" He was caught off guard.

"I asked if you wanted to do something, since your stalking me. I've kinda gotten over all the serial killer and fan fiction stuff, and I really want to ditch my therapist today" I said, watching him. He wrinkled his nose at the words fan fiction.

"You go to therapy?" he asked curiously.

"Thanks to you" I said with annoyance. He sighed, sensing I hated his therapy question, and moved on.